This week has been crazy busy and a lot of fun. My love J celebrated his birthday and I successfully threw him a surprise party with all of his closest friends in our cozy little apartment. I met him after work at our favourite sushi spot and I could hardly keep a straight face while we were waiting for our sushi – to say I was excited and anxious to get back home and meet our friends is an understatement ;). When I am really excited about something I have the tendency to get super giggly, but I managed to pull it off. We were running a bit late so in order to rush us back home as quickly as possible I convinced him that the cake I made “was going to melt”. As we were quickly walking back to our place I could hardly wait in anticipation – I have never kept a secret from him for so long! When we arrived at home I pretended I couldn’t open to the door with my keys and asked him to give it a try. When we walked in the door he was elated to see some “birthday” decorations in place! Still unsuspecting of the my devious plan, when he walked towards the kitchen a minute later all his friends jumped out to surprise him! The look on his face was priceless! After a wonderful evening of great friends, laughter, drinks and cake J agreed that it was one of his best birthdays to date.
And the cake? Well I made him this lovely Coconut Milk Chocolate Cake with Coconut Milk Ganache which blew my mind (and his!). Which is saying a lot because I love love love chocolate cake! I had the best intentions of sharing the recipe with you this week but did not have time in the midst of it all to take proper photographs of it. So you could say that this post is a bit of a tease and the recipe for my Coconut Milk Chocolate Cake will be coming in a couple of weeks! But if you’ll forgive me I do have this awesome, healthy, hearty Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Flourless Banana Bread to share with you today. And it also contains chocolate and coconut – so all is not lost 😉
This Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Flourless Banana Bread is bursting with banana and rich in buttery undertones from the coconut flakes and coconut oil. The oat flour makes this bread hearty and filling, making it a great snack or breakfast-on-the-go. Hearty, yes, but this Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Flourless Banana Bread is also super soft and seems to just melt in your mouth. In between the banana, coconut and oats are melt-y dark chocolate chunks, that when warm, form little chocolate puddles in each bite. Coconut, Oat, Banana, and Dark Chocolate? I am not sure if life gets much better than this!
To top it all off, this Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Flourless Banana Bread is naturally gluten-free, refined sugar free and vegan, just make sure to use gluten-free oats if you have gluten sensitivities. I managed to use honey instead of sugar in this bread and it worked perfectly in naturally sweetening the bread as well as binding the oats and coconut together perfectly. If you are strict vegan simply replace the honey for agave syrup. I like to freeze this Dark Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Flourless Banana Bread and defrost it in the microwave for about 30 seconds whenever I just need some ‘nana bread in my life.
Coconut Oat Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This soft and hearty Coconut Oat Banana Bread is naturally vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free. It makes the perfect snack or breakfast on the go. Make sure to use very ripe bananas with lots of dark spots to ensure a very sweet bread. This bread keeps for up to five days in a tightly sealed contained or frozen in the freezer for up to a month.
Author: Ceara
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: American
Serves: 11
Ingredients
- 3 cups oats (for Oat Flour - 2 cups Oat Flour)
- ½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp cinnamon (optional)
- Flax egg (1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water)
- 3 ripe medium sized bananas
- ¼ cup agave syrup/honey
- 1 tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
- ½ cup applesauce (unsweetened is preferable)
- 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 40 grams dark chocolate or ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp oats, shredded coconut, dark chocolate chunks for sprinkling on top
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350f or 180c and grease a loaf pan with coconut oil or non-stick cooking spray.
- Make flax egg by mixing 1 tbsp flax with three tbsp of water, stir, and leave to sit until the mixture turns into an egg like gel.
- Make Oat Flour in blender by blending together 3 cups of oats until a fine oat flour is formed. Measure out 2 cups of Oat Flour (you will have a bit left over)
- Add and mix Dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl,
- Thoroughly mash bananas in a large sized bowl. Add and mix wet ingredients (mashed banana, flax egg, honey, vinegar, applesauce, coconut oil) altogether.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix and fold in dark chocolate chips until a consistent batter is formed.
- Pour banana bread batter into pan. Decorate with oats, coconut, chocolate chunks.
- Bake for 35 - 40 minutes until an inserted tooth pick comes out clear. Leave to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or plate. Leave to cool down before slicing.
Notes
A healthy dose of healthy fats, iron, manganese, and calcium, plus these treats contain absolutely no cholesterol!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 3161 Fat: 82g Saturated fat: 43g Unsaturated fat: 31g Trans fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 544g Sugar: 164g Sodium: 1979mg Fiber: 73g Protein: 90g Cholesterol: 3mg
19 comments
This turned out AMAZING! Thank you–I think I will be able to convince people that vegan gluten-free baking can be delicious too!
Side note: I used maple syrup instead of honey!
Can we substitue applesauce with something else?
Maybe with equal parts banana puree or coconut oil instead? I haven’t made it this way so I’d love to know your results! Happy Baking 🙂
Awesome, now one of my favorite banana bread recipes, i make banana bread every week,,this is delicious . perfect, can’t wait to share,hmmmm maybe not.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Jimie! I’m so happy that this has become one of your favorite banana bread recipes!! 🙂 It’s one of my favorites as well! 🙂 Have a wonderful week!!
You’re very welcome, it disappeared quickly as i shared with family n neighbors, preparing another one now,thank you again for this amazing recipe. Looking forward to more.have an awesome day.
🙂 Thanks once again for the lovely comment, Jimie! I am so happy that everyone enjoyed it! Have a wonderful day!
You had me at dark chocolate … so I wasn’t one bit disappointed to learn that I wasn’t getting cake! I couldn’t wait to see your banana bread recipe … and now I get to look forward to cake, too! Bonus! I loved the adorable story about the surprise party – you’re so cute! I am terrible, terrible at keeping secrets, too, so I’m hugely impressed that you pulled off the surprise! I hosted a surprise party for my guy when he turned 30 … it is soooooo hard to be that sneaky! Lol! What fun! Pinning the bread now … and anxiously awaiting cake! Yay!
Thanks Shelley!!! Hehe, I am happy to hear you share my love of dark chocolate! Your hubby’s 30th sounds like a blast – and good on you for pulling off the surprise as well (the most difficult part hehe!!!). Thanks for the pin 😀
This is my kind of recipe! Coconut, bananas, and chocolate chips are a match made in heaven. Yum!
Thanks Allison – I can’t get enough of the coconut, banana and chocolate combo in my life 😀
Lovely birthday surprise! I bet he was excited but you look even happier!! Gosh cake and banana bread are the best and sure sound yummy!! Pinning 🙂
Thanks for the pin, Shundara!! The surprise party was a total blast and I was just excited as he was when the surprise came around!! 😀
Awww how cute, sounds like you did an awesome job with the surprise party! I’m the same, I would have found it so hard to keep the secret! This recipe looks delish! Banana bread is never a bad thing, then with the added coconut and choc chunks, I imagine it’s just taken to a whole other level ;o)
Thanks, Samantha!! The surprise party was a lot of fun! The Banana Bread is yummy – I’ve always got time for some Banana bread in my life 😀
Love banana bread and I love your additions! It’s almost like an oatmeal cookie meets a Mounds candy bar…with some banana. 🙂
Tina at http://www.tinaschic.com
I love that description Tina – the idea of an Oatmeal Cookie Cake has my mouth watering 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I was just looking for a good gluten-free recipe. Looks like I found it! What a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday 😉
Thanks Monet for stopping by and the kind words! And the birthday celebration was a blast 🙂